Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush

it in the "briest o' the laft." When Lachlan Campbell arrived from the privileged parish of Auchindarroch, where the "Men" ruled with iron hand and

ent, and his deliverances were for the most part in parables, none the less awful because hard of interpretation. Like every true Celt, he had the power of reserve, and knew the value of mystery. His voice must not be heard in irresponsible gossip at the Kirk door, and he never condescended to the level of Mrs. MacFadyen, our recognised sermon taster, who criticised everythi

as if he hed juist come oot o' the Ark." He was a shepherd to trade, and very faithful in all his work, but his life business was theology, from Supralapsarianism in Election to the marks of faith in a believer's heart. His library consisted of some fifty volumes of ancient divinity, and lay on an old oak kist close to his hand, where he sat beside the fire of a winter night. When the sheep were safe and his day's labour was over, he read by the light of the f

ochty Fast, and preached with great eloquence from the words, "And there was no more sea," repeating the text at the end of each paragraph, and concluding the sermon with "Lord Ullin's Daughter," the atmosphere round Lachlan became electric,

h no, they preached fery well, and I said to Angus Bain, 'They ar

be saying, 'Oh yes, they said their lesson fery pretty, but I did not see th

thinking that the Lord had laid too great a burden on the lad, and that he could not be fit for such a work. It wass not more than ten minutes before he will be tryi

the elders, 'and I will nefer show my face again in Auchindarro

, "Wait for the man that trembles at the Word, and iss not able to speak, and it will be a sig

ain ceased, and the north wind began to blow, which cleanses nature in every pore, and braces each true man for his battle. The morrow was one of those glorious days which herald winter, and as the minister tramped along the road, where the dry leaves crackled beneath his feet, and climbed to the moor with head on high, the despair of yesterday vanished. The wind had ceased, and the glen lay at his feet, distinct in the cold, clear air, from the dark mass of pines that closed its upper end to the swelling woods of oak and beech that cut it off from the great Strath. He had received a warm welcome from all kinds of people, and now he marked with human sympathy each little homestead with its belt of firs against the winter's storms, and its stackyard where the corn ha

low of body and soul, to find a severe figure

sermon?" said Lachlan Campb

not catch the tone, and explained with college peda

all it a m

essay without one bite of

leasant dream, as if one had flu

look at the stern little man who

elds will save our souls, and I did not hear about sin and repentance and the work of

see why he should be lectured by an old Highlandman who read nothing except Puritans, and was blind with prejudice. When th

the evening in a fir wood praying for the lad he had begun to love. And Lachlan would have had a lighter heart if he had heard the ministe

congregation felt that his hand was against

and comin' on fine. He hes a hearty word for ilka body on the road, an

warm to the minister, for it went out unto him from the day he preache

ons frae a young man, and I wud coont them barely honest. A'm no denying that he gaes far afield, and taks us tae strange

like a face through a lattice. Oh yes, and I hef felt the fragrance of the myrrh. But I am not liking his

world, and I implored him to be cautious. Drumtochty was not anxious to be enlightened about the authors of the Pentateuch, being quite satisfied with Moses, and it was possible that certain good men in Drumtochty might resent any interference with their herditary notions. Why could he not read this subject for his own pleasure, and teach it quietly in classes? Why give himself away in the pulpit? This worldly counsel brought the minister to a white heat, and he rose to his feet. Had he not been ordained to feed his pe

t a sign of flinching, but even from the Manse pew I could detect the suffering of his heart. When the minister blazed into polemic against the bigotry of the old school, the iron face quivered as if a father had been struck by his son. Carmichael looked thin and nervous in the pulpit, and it came to me that if new views are to be preached to old-fashi

fied, not even by the ple

rk, as they are saying; it iss the judgment of God. It iss not goot to meddle with Moses, and John Carmichael wi

uld man cudna be mair cast doo

was eating out his heart, when he remembered the invitation o

her quiet welcome

ichael, and if ye please we 'ill sit in this sunny corne

ter one glance at Marget's face the minister opened his

o had heard of some brave deed,

oont truth dearer than their ain freends. It's peetifu' when God's bairns fecht through greed and envy, but

himself micht be gude men and accepted o' God, and maybe the inqueesitor suffered mai

s buried in his hands,

rg

en no mickle nutriment in it; then there's the corn lying in the ear, which is the Evangel frae Eden tae Revelation, and that is the bread o' the soul. But the corn maun be threshed first and the cauf (chaff) cleaned aff. It's a bonnie sicht tae see t

tudy is the threshin' mill, and that som

d," and Marget'

laughed aloud with joy, while a swif

e up my 'course,' the people will misunderstand, for I know everythin

and the fouk all luve ye, and the man that hauds ye dearest is L

ery day," and the mini

" said Marget, "for Go

th a growing tenderness at his heart how gently the old man washed and bound up the wounded leg, all the time crooning to the fr

is work of mercy, h

lan hesitated, and

ce he held out

or me, and I bid you t

ster took th

may always differ on some lesser matters. But once I spoke rudely to you, and often I have spoken unwisely in my sermons. You are an old man an

teous as a Celt, and

indest of friends

your forgiveness, for I wass full of pride, and did not speak to you as an old man should; but God iss my witness that I would hef plucked out my right ey

rd, and the only difference in their prayers was that the young man prayed they might keep the faith once de

ead he read, to Flora's amazement-it was the night before she left her home-the thirteenth chapter of I C